Spain: DTT, well ahead of satellite and cable
January 8, 2014
From David Del Valle in Madrid
DTT has become the most popular technology to watch TV in Spain, well ahead of others such as satellite and cable. In 2013, 82.8 per cent of TV consumption was made through DTT against cable’s (and ADSL) 12.9 per cent and satellite’s 4.3 per cent, according to Kantar Media data reported by Barlovento Comunicacion.
While DTT is growing, cable and satellite are going down as a result of a higher churn rate. Thus, cable TV started 2013 with a penetration of 14.2 per cent and ended the year with 12.9 per cent. Satellite TV went from 4.5 per cent at the beginning of the year to 4.3 per cent at the end.
DTT has the highest penetration in Catalonia (88.3 per cent) whereas it is cable in the Basque Country and Asturias, with the main cable operators Euskaltel and Telecable, respectively. Satellite TV is strong in the Canary Islands.
As a whole Spaniards spent an average of 243 minutes a day in front of the TV (with February breaking a month record with 272 minutes), the second year with the highest TV consumption level in the history only beaten by the previous year with 246 minutes.